


Thunderstorm Under the Blankets

by sarathechimera



Series: Kink/Flufftober 2020 [7]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arguing, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Flufftober, Flufftober 2020, Married Couple, dimileth, fan kids, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:40:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26876827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarathechimera/pseuds/sarathechimera
Summary: He didn’t even remember what it was they were fighting about, only that it had gone on for longer than any of their other fights. Not that they fought frequently. Never that. Every couple has squabbles. When you’re sharing your life with another person you’re bound to misstep or fall out of sync with each other or whatever the TV psychologists say but he and Byleth had always made up within hours of a fight. But maybe they’d both stepped too far over a line.At least they were still sharing a bed.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & My Unit | Byleth, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth
Series: Kink/Flufftober 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947790
Comments: 7
Kudos: 65





	Thunderstorm Under the Blankets

**Author's Note:**

> Things to know: this is a Modern AU
> 
> For October 7th - I'm doing a Flufftober prompt: Hogging the Blankets

“Maybe you should just tell me what’s bothering you instead of moping around until I guess!’

“Well, maybe if you weren’t emotionally stunted, you would be more aware of other people’s feelings!” 

He didn’t even remember what it was they were fighting about, only that it had gone on for longer than any of their other fights. Not that they fought frequently. Never that. Every couple has squabbles. When you’re sharing your life with another person you’re bound to misstep or fall out of sync with each other or whatever the TV psychologists say but he and Byleth had always made up within hours of a fight. But maybe they’d both stepped too far over a line. 

At least they were still sharing a bed. Albeit a cold bed where they both slept as far apart as they could. On any normal night, a raging thunderstorm like the one happening right now would have driven them together. By now, he would be buried inside of her and her teeth would have sunk into his arm to muffle her cries lest they wake Sitri. But they were stubborn, one of the many qualities they shared and sometimes this was a good thing and others not so much. 

Staring at the wall, Dimitri tried to work backward through the weekend to get to the bottom of what they’d been arguing about. Work had been all consuming as the quarter neared completion. This past year, his father’s company had faced it’s first real competition in decades and he’d only just taken the role of CEO after his dad’s retirement. Before, he’d been able to do extra work at home after dinner and putting Sitri to bed but this past month had seen him staying in the office for longer periods of time, sometimes overnight. 

Byleth had to know how guilty he felt and how painful it was to stay away from them even for a night. No one knew him better than she but her blank stares had become more frequent and her silent responses took the place of casual conversation no matter what he tried. She must hate him for being gone so much, especially when he’d promised her that it wouldn’t become a habit. 

But it had become a habit as his work continued to pile up and his presence was necessary more often in the office. What was he supposed to do when he had to make a video call with someone in a timezone four hours behind him? So he’d worked even harder. Logically, if he worked harder he would finish sooner and be free to enjoy the time spent with his wife and daughter. 

And hadn’t he changed his strategy immediately when she asked? Hadn’t he pushed through the commutes and the long hours locked away in his office? If she wanted him physically in the house so damn much, what did she have to complain about when he did what she wanted? And why did she have to take all of the blankets?

A frustrated growl rumbled in his chest as he reached over to yank the blankets over his shoulder as the thunder continued to crack outside their bedroom window. 

On the opposite side of the bed, staring at the other wall, Byleth was also retracing her steps in an attempt to get to the root of the matter. Recalling what he’d said to her when he knew that she struggled with expressing herself had been a low blow. It stung and even a few days separated from the argument, it still hurt. 

She had known when she married him that he had a penchant for diving head first into anything that captured his attention. Whether that was a hobby or work, he never shirked away from giving it his all. It was one of the qualities she loved most about him. It also had a darkness to it, when a passion project would take a turn to consuming obsession. He’d been trapped in something like that when they first met, after all. Moderation was not something that came easily to him. 

But they had worked through it together. Since their marriage and Sitri’s birth, it seemed he had devoted himself wholly to their family which delighted her to no end. Yes, there were low days but, for the most part, he balanced his work responsibilities and time with his family as easily as tying a shoe. Or in Sitri’s case, trying a bow in a toddler’s golden hair. 

Recently, since his father’s retirement, things had begun to change. First, it was working for a few hours after Sitri’s bedtime but he promised that would only happen occasionally. Next, it was staying late a few nights a week. Then staying overnight in the city and the final straw had been staying in the city over the weekend. Any other woman would have begun to wonder if he were cheating on her. But she was not other women. 

Even when reassuring Sitri that daddy was just very busy at work she had begun to notice the signs of obsession. He wasn’t sleeping as much, coming to bed after she did and leaving before she’d woken up. Byleth would find him hunched over his desk in his office working well before the sun was up before leaving for the office only a few hours later. 

She had put her foot down, insisting that he was spreading himself too thin and that his family needed him to be present. Sitri missed him. She missed him. And he had seemed receptive until he all but moved his office into their home. That had not been what she meant when she told him that he needed to be home more often. 

What did he expect her to do? She was no housewife and she had her own work and hobbies to pursue alongside her devotion to her family. When they had married, hadn’t they vowed to be partners in this journey? Her father had raised her alone and while she loved him very much, that was not what she wanted for Sitri. Yes, Dimitri wasn’t dead, but being absent was just as bad. And he’d blinked at her so absently when she told him as much! And why did he always hog the damn blankets!?

A frustrated breath puffed out her nostrils as she reached over her shoulder to snatch the blankets back. She nestled back into her pillow pulling the blanket snuggly over her shoulder as the rain storm continued outside. 

And who was she anyways to lecture him about work-life balance? When he’d met her she was taking online classes, operating a private personal training business out of her living room and teaching classes for at least three gyms. He had always counted himself lucky that she liked him enough to carve out time to date him. But now that he was seeing things clearly, she was no better than he was when it came to work but somehow he was the bad guy. Everything he was doing, the hard work he put himself through, was for them. Didn’t she see that? He had no choice but to succeed! Would it kill her to be supportive instead of trying to mother him? 

His heart began to race as he thought about it. Just recalling her standing in the door to his office, arms crossed, eyes accusing made his blood boil. It was obvious what she wanted to say but instead of just coming out and saying it, she demanded to know if he’d eaten that day. 

He had dismissed it with a laugh but she did share his amusement at this little oversight. Then she asked again the following day and the day after that and the day after that. Goddess didn’t she know the pressure he was under! And if she cared so much about his eating habits would it kill her to bring him something? And then, to add insult to injury, she sent Sitri in to ask him. Of all the lowdown, manipulative things to do!

What was he supposed to say when she looked up at him with those big green eyes. She’d been so worried but not really sure what she was worried about. Even with the deadline approaching for the deal with Brigid, he had no choice but to take her tiny hand in his and let her lead him to dinner. 

He’d eaten with hardly a word to Byleth and then, with a plate still half full, he’d kissed the top of Sitri’s pigtailed head and headed back to the office. She knew what she’d done because she did not even come to wish him goodnight before heading to bed herself. And again, with the blanket! 

This time he twisted the fabric in his fingers to pull roughly back over his shoulders and he did not let go, clinging it tightly to his chest as he pulled his knees up into a fetal position. A bolt of lightning lit up the room for just a moment and thunder boomed right behind it. 

Of course the only way she could get him to eat was by guilting him. Sometimes that was the only feeling that made him do anything. She’d told Sitri to go and tell him it was time for dinner and to ask pretty please. The light expression on his face when he appeared from the hallway, slightly hunched over so that Sitri could grip his finger as she lead him forward gave her hope. Maybe his daughter had been just the thing to get him out of his head! 

How he glared at her when Sitri wasn’t looking. Blue eyes so cold and face so stoney that she wondered if something else was wrong. When he stiffly excused himself from the table without even eating a full plate, she had ground her teeth in an attempt to keep things light with her daughter. 

What followed was a weekend of intermittent solitude and icy exchanges between the two of them all culminating in a confrontation at his office door after Sitri had been put to sleep. Unable to hold it back any longer, she had confronted him about his moodiness. Refusing to accept that it was nothing only made him angry until at last he shouted at her to leave him alone. That he had endless piles of work to do and the weekend had only set him behind. 

At last, she pried it out of him. He’d been mad about Sitri, thinking that she’d “prepped their daughter” into doing her dirty work. Oh how the anger had almost blinded her! 

“If you would just take care of yourself, like an adult, then I wouldn’t have to constantly remind you to eat!” 

“Do you ever stop to think that I’m working like this so that I can spend time with you? Can you even see past your nose! I know I’m working myself to death. Is it too much to ask for some support instead of suffering through your nagging!?” 

“Maybe you should just tell me what’s bothering you instead of moping around until I guess!’

“Well, maybe if you weren’t emotionally stunted, you would be more aware of other people’s feelings!” 

Byleth ground her teeth as she replayed the fight for the hundredth time in her mind. How dare he say those things to her when she was only trying to help him? And damn him if he wouldn’t share the fucking blankets! With a fully vocalized huff, she clawed at the blankets behind her back, pulling them violently when she caught hold. 

As the blankets whipped off of him, he saw red. He’d had enough and rolled over to face her. “What the hell, Byelth!” 

Her shoulder was suddenly bare and at the heated sound in his voice, she snarled. “What the hell, Dimitri!” she taunted, rolling over to face him as well. 

“Stop with the passive aggression and quit hogging the blankets!” 

“Me? What about you! You’re the one who…” 

At a soft yawn and a cooing, sleepy sound at the foot of the bed, both of them fell silent. Upon looking, there was a small shape, bundled up in the blankets. Lightening and thunder crashed and banged and the bundle shivered, emitting a quiet whimpering sound. 

They exchanged glances and then were shifting to sit up and scoot closer to the edge of the bed. 

“Sitri?” Byleth asked soothingly. “Are you okay, honey?”

Dimitri placed a comforting hand on her back, the side of it dwarfed their daughter's tiny body. 

“I was scared,” came a very small voice from the blanket roll. 

Their faces softened even as their eyes met. Then Dimitri was scooping up the little baked-potato and Byleth was making a spot between them at the head of the bed. Sitri fit perfectly once she was unwound from the blanket. Gripping her father’s finger and nestling her back against her mother’s chest, she fell asleep again despite the storm outside. 

When Dimitri looked up from Sitri’s peacefully slumbering face, he found Byleth looking at him. A lopsided smile spread on his lips, mirrored on her face. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. 

“Me too,” she whispered back. 

They continued to gaze at one another as they settled onto their pillows, soothed to sleep by the soft snoring of the toddler between them.


End file.
